Create and Craft TV channel to launch in US at end of year

Craft Retail Group, a division of British retailer Ideal Shopping Direct, will launch its Create and Craft TV shopping channel in the US at the end of the year.

Initially Create and Craft, a channel that focuses exclusively on crafts, will broadcast live and pre-recorded programming into around 40 million US homes for several hours a day on every day of the week.

The first US broadcast will begin on December 2014 and is accessible online and via an app.

Craft Retail Group managing director Tony Sheridan said: “Our TV broadcast will be supported by a unique ecommerce and apps platform that will merge live streaming, product and education 24 hours a day.

“To support our omnichannel approach we have agreed a strategic partnership with a significant US-based store retailer.”

Mike Hancox, chief executive at Ideal Shopping Direct, said a US launch is a “natural progression” for the group as it seeks to tap into the world’s largest craft market.

Programming on Create and Craft includes “first to market offers” from brands across paper craft sewing, quilting, knitting and niche crafts.